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Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Christmas Traditions: Melted Snowman Sugar Cookies

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This weekend I was in the kitchen busting out a few of our traditional family Christmas cookies!  Yum, yet another reason to love the holidays...SUGAR!!  I made these Melted Snowman Sugar Cookies as a special surprise for Noah and Penny after they came in from a cold afternoon of playing in the snow with their Daddy.  They are the perfect snack to have with a nice cup of hot chocolate :-)



Aren't they just too cute for words?



Even my husband couldn't get over their cuteness!  I love a cookie that can make a grown man say 'awww!'


Here is a quick rundown of how to make them.  Unfortunately I only have pictures of the final product since I was trying to get them all done while Ellie napped and the other two were outside in the snow.  My window was small so it was definitely go time for me!

To make these cookies you first need to make a batch of sugar cookies.  You could just buy pre-made dough but I highly recommend making your own, there is nothing like it in the world!!  This is my go to sugar cookie recipe, these cookies always come out perfect and get rave reviews from everyone.  I've never had a bad batch yet (crossing my fingers and knocking on wood now!)

Sugar Cookies

1/3 cup cold butter
1/3 cup shortening
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups all purpose flour

Beat butter and shortening with an electric mixer for about 30 seconds on high speed.  Add in sugar, baking powder and a dash of salt.  Beat until combined.  Add in egg and vanilla and continue mixing.  Add in the flour 1/2 cup at a time, you may need to hand stir the remaining 1/2 cup.  Lightly flour your rolling surface and place half your dough on top.  Flip your dough a few times to get it nicely coated with flour.  Flour your rolling pin and then roll out your dough 1/8 to 1/4 inch in thickness and cut your shapes.  Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake at 375 for 7-8 minutes or just until the cookies edge is firm and the bottom of the cookie is a very light golden brown.  Cool on a rack and ice!!

**Edit**  To see my Sugar Cookie Icing Recipe click HERE



I cut my dough with a large circle cookie/biscuit cutter.  This gives you a nice sized area to decorate your melted snowmen.  Then just haphazardly ice your cookies, the more imperfect the better cause it gives the lovely effect of melting snow, kinda drippy and oozing.  

While you are icing your cookies, place a few large marshmallows on a plate and microwave them on high for about 25 seconds.  They should puff up a some but they will shrink back down if you let them sit for a bit!  Before you pick up your marshmallows to place on your cookies grease you fingers with some cooking spray first.  This will reduce the sticky factor of those puffy marshmallows as well as help to not ruin their shape and therefore reduce any bad swear words you might want to utter!  

Then since I was short on time, I just grabbed a bottle of colored Jimmies from my cupboard and picked out the brown and orange ones to decorate the snowmen's faces and little melted bodies.  If you had more time on your hands you could color your icing orange and black and decorate them with a small circular piping tip.  Or...you could use a few of those handy dandy food-safe markers but you'd want to wait until the cookies are completely set and hard before drawing on them!!



This one is my favorite little guy!



Rows of melted snowman...cute, cute and cute!



Well, the kids came in and saw these guys and just fell in love!  


Don't you love watching kids during the holidays?  Everything is just magical to them.  We decorate a gingerbread house and do a few other family traditions every year and it always amazes me how new and exciting it is for the kids each and every year we do them!!  

SO FUN!



Yup, these cookies were definitely approved by Noah!

Ya gotta love that!


Happy Wednesday!!

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58 comments:

  1. Great idea! Goes right into my favorites!

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  2. These are totally adorable! I think they might have to go on my next batch of neighbor goodies. You should link them up for Look What I Made! :)

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  3. These are the cutest cookies I have ever seen! I cannot wait to bake some with my little one this weekend!! Merry Christmas :)

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  4. You are sooo creative! I just love this idea - gotta try right now. wait, I'm at work...

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  5. Those are absolutely the cutest cookies ever! What child (or adult, for that matter) wouldn't be delighted to see them?!

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  6. That's about the cutest thing I've ever seen in my life! (well, I exaggerate..my granddaughter would surpass it...LOL) But they are, indeed, adorable! - Karen

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  7. I would never want to eat them, they are so cute!

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  8. Hilarious! I think I could manage decorating these. Decorating cookies is not my strong suit. :)

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  9. Do you have a recipe for the icing?

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  10. Im wondering if you would post your icing recipe!!!

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  11. I LOVE this idea! I am so going to do it with my kids! Question-what kind of icing do you use? If you make your own, can you post the recipe for it? My homemade icing always turns out runny and never stiffens...

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  12. What kind of icing did you use?

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  13. Hi! Do your cookies end up soft and chewy or more on the hard crunchy side? I always end up using a mix to get a soft cookie, but would rather make them from scratch if they end up nice and soft... Just curious!
    Thanks so much! These are ADORABLE and I can't wait to make them for my boys :)

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  14. I was wondering what Icing recipe you used? It looks shiny and just right for the melted snow.

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  15. I have to say those are adorable cookies..I can't wait to make them.

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  16. AHHH!!! These are A.MAZ.ING! I want to make some for the Christmas party I have next week! :) Thank you for sharing!

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  17. AWESOMENESS!! I've been looking for uses for my leftover marshmallows. This is the best one I've ever seen. I'm in luv with the adorable cookies! Thank you for sharing.

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  18. Hi Everyone!! To answer a few questions, this sugar cookie recipe makes soft but firm cookies, perfect for decorating. They are not the crunchy type as long as you take them out around 6-7 minutes (depending on your oven!) If they get to be golden brown (like you usually need to see before you remove other cookies from the oven) they will most definitely be crunchy so take them out earlier than later!!! They should still look white or 'raw' colored!

    I will most definitely post my icing recipe for you, hopefully I can get it up tomorrow morning!! I've been busy with the kids and work so I'm sorry to have left anyone hanging!! Thanks for reading!!

    XOXO,
    Mags

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  19. Awesome! I can't wait to try out the dough! Yay for homemade! :) Thank you so much for sharing these...they are so stinking cute :)

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  20. My sis and I both saw this blog and fell in love! We are doing this tomorrow for our little cousins' playdate. We are making Snoopy on his doghouse cookies and watching Charlie Brown Christmas. We had planned to make snowmen shirts using the kids' feet dipped in paint. And NOW we are making these cookies, too!!! :) So thanks for sharing.

    BTW...in the "group photo" of the snowmen, the lower right one totally looks passed out or asleep. The one right beside him looks like "hey, dude, get it together! You are making the rest of us look bad!" (heh, heh) Sorry, my brain just runs like that. ;-D

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  21. Can this cookie be frozen w/the Marshmallow? Thinking of baking ahead...

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  22. These are the cutest cookies ever! Even though my kids are getting older - 14 and 18, I think I have to make these!

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  23. Those cookies are just too cute! My kids would love them. I would love for you to come and link these up at the Incredible Cookie Party.
    http://www.cuteasafox.com/2010/12/incredible-christmas-cookie-party-soft.html
    Thanks!
    Ashley

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  24. Wonderful idea. Great execution. I can't wait to make them myself. Thanks for sharing.

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  25. Oh my! These are ADORABLE!!! Totally love them!

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  26. Snooooow CUTE! Gonna make some tomorrow! Thanks for sharing!

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  27. Hi! I'm not sure about how well the marshmallow would freeze but you probably could freeze the iced cookie and then add the marshmallow once you were ready to eat/use them.

    XOXO,
    Mags

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  28. LOVE these cookies- I'm thinking they'll be a perfect bit of Christmas cheer for my co-workers :)

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  29. I have to make those cookies for my grandkids and hubby
    Thank you for sharing

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  30. Awwww - so adorable!! I'm bummed that I just saw this today - we had our annual cookie decorating party yesterday and these would have been a hoot to pass out to everyone!! Adding to my list for next year! Love 'em!

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  31. Sooooooooo cute :-) I love snowmen - this was an great idè, I just love your cookies :-)

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  32. So incredibly cute! I'm going to have to try these.
    Thanks!

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  33. Awww, they look so sad, and yet so freakig adorable!!

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  34. too cute! i'm a new follower from a pleasant home...
    sugar cookies are my fave!

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  35. I just LOVE these cookies! Hope someone makes some for me! :-)

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  36. Those are SO cute...definitely will try these these year.

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  37. Those are adorable. Might have to make these for Christmas.

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  38. Absolutely adorable! I made them last night and wanted to ask a question regarding the icing...I followed the recipe exactly but my icing is not nearly as white as yours. Ideas? Doesn't look nearly as cute :(

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  39. These are adorable! I've gotta make these for the kiddos... We had snow today, so they would be perfect for the weekend! :)
    Thanks for sharing!!!!

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  40. So cute! Gotta make em for the grandkids!

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  41. These are wonderful.... we made them today.... they don't look quite as amazing as yours but they were fun to make, look cute and taste great....
    If you'd like to see ours
    http://bubzrugz.blogspot.com/2010/12/melting-snowmen.html
    Thanks and Hugz

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  42. Hmmm, Kelly H. maybe it's your milk? I know some milks aren't as 'white' as others, if I use soymilk my icing tends to be a little more almond-colored...just a thought!?!
    XOXO,
    Mags

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  43. Thank you for sharing these! I’m sugared out but still have cookie exchanges this week. So, I’ve looking for some cookie inspiration. So, I’ve got a cookie linky up on my blog, I’d love it if you would come add these so my readers can all try them out! http://www.gourmetmomonthego.com/2010/12/12-days-of-christmas-cookies.html

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  44. Oh what a good laugh I had when I saw your dear melted snowman. Just the perfect thing for the next big snowstorm,I'm thinking. I'm cookied out for the moment!

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  45. We made these tonight...used mini M&Ms for the buttons, eyes, nose... so fun! Also, your sugar cookie recipe is the most delicious I've tried so far...it will definitely be going in my "go-to" recipe diary!

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  46. I have been searching for the perfect sugar cookie recipe for years! Just made yours & you win my vote...they are soft yet firm like u said, love not having to refrigerate the dough, & love how simple & fast they are to make. Plus the melting snowmen are adorable beyond words :) I will try them when I get some corn syrup! Thank you soooo much for sharing! Are u on Ravelry?

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  47. Ooh. These would be a good use for clearanced after-Halloween jimmies. :)

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  48. These are so cute! I have to try them out! Can I use crisco baking sticks in place of the butter and the shortening?

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  49. These are so cute! Ihave to try them out! Can I use Crisco baking sticks in place of the butter and the shortening?

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  50. Just made your cookies for a cookie exchange and they held their shape very well and tasted great! Also, the dough was so easy to work with. Thanks for the recipeI used the icing recipe as well and it was great.

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  51. Cutest cookies - glad I found your blog! I loved how they turned out except my icing wasn't as white. Any suggestions?

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